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#CLST6 #LookCloser7 Today I'll be taking a look at the ruins of Pompeii. As Pompeii was incased in a layer volcanic ash in 79 CE, its architecture has been very well conserved. Pompeii's ruins provide information about housing that cannot be found in other sites.
Specifically I'm gonna be talking about a house called the Villa of the Mysteries. According to Fred Kleiner, this house is a perfect example of the "typical suburban villa" (1). A picture of its plan and an overhead shot are shown below.
The Villa, built and refurbished during the 1st and 2nd century BC, is located about 1000 feet outside of the city's gates (2). It was built outside of the city to avoid the cramped city streets and so it could have "an uninterrupted view of the sea from its western terrace" (3).
In this villa, you enter through the area marked as #1 on the plan. You are immediately greeted by the peristyle, a column-framed garden. After this the you walk into the atrium, the main reception area of the villa. Other rooms branch off from these two large areas.
In some of the other rooms, such as this chamber shown above, murals cover the wall. They are prime examples of the Roman Second Style. They are painted to make the walls an extension of the room. They are meant to look like you can walk straight into the painting.
These villas served as vacation homes for the richer citizens of Pompeii. Their grand architecture and masterful paintings showed the wealth of the owner to all of the villa's guests. They also allowed the rich citizens to escape from the bustle of the cramped roman cities.
This villa style of architecture grew in popularity during the second century BC (4).
1-4) "A History of Roman Art" by Fred S. Kleiner (pg. 67)
Image of Villa plan: Roman Art (fig. 4-14)
Image of Peristyle: Roman Art (fig 4-15)
All other images from Google Earth/Street view
1-4) "A History of Roman Art" by Fred S. Kleiner (pg. 67)
Image of Villa plan: Roman Art (fig. 4-14)
Image of Peristyle: Roman Art (fig 4-15)
All other images from Google Earth/Street view
